


Identical

by jmcknight08



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Glee, The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 08:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4600068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jmcknight08/pseuds/jmcknight08
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"My name is Barry Allen and I am the fastest man alive. I saved a man's life, he wasn't just another person I saved from a burning building or a crazy meta human. He thought I was a man named Sebastian Smythe who was identical to me. His name was Blaine Devon Anderson, and this is the story of how I fell in love with him."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 'Long lost identical twin?'

"My name is Barry Allen and I am the fastest man alive. I saved a man's life, he wasn't just another person I saved from a burning building or a crazy meta human. He thought I was a man named Sebastian Smythe who was identical to me. His name was Blaine Devon Anderson, and this is the story of how I fell in love with him."

Barry Allen stood on the roof of a building, countless times he'd wear his red suit and talked to Iris. Most of those times she had no clue she was talking to him, instead she just thought she was talking to the well known scarlet-speedster, The Flash. He was relieved she knew, now everyone he was close to knew the truth. It was still unsatisfying, he was the reason for the death of Iris's fiancé and although he claimed to love her, he would never forgive himself for that. He began to realize weeks after the event that his feelings for Iris had faded away. He made sure to tell her that. She seemed to push it aside, still mourning over the man she was supposed to marry.

He looked over the edge of the building, he wore his suit, the mask covering majority of his face. The city was lit up, skyscrapers with lit up windows, shops and other businesses with neon open signs, the moving traffic, Central City was busy as usual. He loved his city, he grew to care about more and more since he'd become the Flash. He was a hero, the red streak that appeared at any sign of danger.

He always imagined the life of hero to be more fun, and it was at times, but sometimes he felt so alone. Cisco and Caitlyn were good friends, and Joe and Iris were always there but he'd seen so many casualties, many of them friends that it started to wear him down.

"Barry, we got a shooting at the theatre." Cisco's voice sounded through the superhero's earpiece.

He moved to the edge of he building, "which theatre? There's like a movie theatre in every section of the city."

Cisco replied with the same informative tone, "not a movie theatre, the stage theatre."

Without question he was on it, running at unbelievable speeds to the location of the crime. He heard the screams from the short distance away. Sirens of police cars just leaving their stations, he always beat them. The Flash disarmed the single shooter, smirking at the criminal's expression. His jaw dropped, as if he didn't expect Central City's famous hero to end his shooting spree. He wore a ski mask in attempt to hide his identity. He stumbled around running towards the exit, Barry ran ahead standing with crossed arms at the man's intended escape route.

From the doorway he could see that there was plenty of damage done to the theatre but no one looked hurt or dead for that matter. Then his eyes made their way up to the stage from the crowd of people ducking behind their seats. A single man was left, he wore a fancy black tuxedo with a gold bow tie on a white dress shirt. He narrowed his eyes, he was shot.

Luckily, the police had finally arrived. The Flash grabbed hold of the shooter and before letting his adoptive father and detective cuff him, "I'm taking that one to the hospital, let them know they have one shot coming to emergency."

With that he moved to the stage, he held his hand over the wound on the left side of the man's chest. His hair looked hard from the large amount of product that must have been in it. His eyes were an interesting hazel colour, he had unique dark triangle eyebrows and his pink lips had an appealing curve to them.

"Hold on, I'm going to take you to the hospital." Barry said softly, picking the man up with both arms.

The man squinted his eyes, Barry couldn't tell if it was out of pain or curiosity, his voice was weak as he spoke, "Sebastian?"

Barry didn't quite understand, he assumed he was just under some sort of hysteria from being shot. He took another quick look at the man before rushing off to the hospital carrying the man.

"You're Sebastian." The man said, louder than when he spoke before, "Sebastian Smythe."

The Flash placed him in a hospital bed and watched as nurses rushed him through the hallway. He'd seen it more than he'd realize, he dropped off victims to this exact spot to be taken to care so many times before.

"Sebastian Smythe?" He whispered to himself, "Cisco, Caitlyn, I'm coming to Star Labs."

He raced through the city and to the top floor of Star Labs, his so called headquarters. He put his hands on the desk and looked at his colleagues, "Search up Sebastian Smythe."

He thought of the man he'd just taken to the hospital, he wondered what his name was, he must have been a performer. He never cared all that much about who the people he saved were, he just liked that he'd saved people, but this time the man was stuck in his head.

"Woah, Barry look at this."

Barry pulled the hood of his Flash suit down, revealing his whole face. He looked at Cisco's screen, surprised at what he saw. He shook his head and looked again wondering if he seen it wrong. Sebastian Smythe was identical to him.

Caitlyn was just as surprised as the boys, "Sebastian Smythe, says he was a Broadway performer, your age."

"He looks like a clone of you!" Cisco rolled back in his chair, looking back and forth from Barry to the picture of the man, "it also says he died over a year ago in when the Particle Accelerator exploded."

"Do you know him?" Caitlyn asked, staring at the picture like it would change.

Barry shook his head, "i don't have a clue. That guy that was shot in the theatre, when I picked him up to take him to the hospital he said the name, he said I was him."

"Long lost identical twin? Maybe he's a clone of you, or maybe you're a clone of him." Cisco suggested, causing Caitlyn to sit back in her chair annoyed.

Barry leaned in, carefully examining the picture with his scientific mind. Every single aspect of he man's face was exactly like his, they shared the same haircut, eye colour, and apparently the same teeth in the same big smile. This Sebastian Smythe character shared the same awkward shaped eyebrows, he wondered if they were alike personality-wise too. He didn't know how the man could tell he looked like who must have been his friend or co-worker while he had his mask on. He felt the need to talk to man again, find out more. At the same time he thought that maybe that was a bad idea, maybe seeing Barry alive would give him some sort of false hope, making him believe that Sebastian was somehow still alive.

"Are you going to talk to him?" Caitlyn said, snapping Barry back into reality, "that guy you saved I mean."

Barry shrugged, "I'm torn. If this Sebastian is dead and maybe they were friends, seeing me wouldn't be the best thing."

"He already saw you. If you don't see him he's going to be full of questions." The woman pointed out.

"I can't just tell him in not the guy he thinks I am, tell him I'm the Flash and my name is Barry Allen."

She looked down, she was against telling people Barry's identity just as much as the rest of the group, but this was a different situation, "you might have to."

Barry sighed, he'd sleep on it. He said goodbye to his team and sped off to the house where Joe and Iris were watching TV sharing a bowl of popcorn. He went to his room, changing into comfortable clothing and returning to the living room in seconds. He sat down in between the two startling his family.

Joe laughed while Iris slapped Barry on the arm playfully.

"Guys I'm heading straight to sleep tonight." Barry said, "I'm exhausted."

"What have you even done today? we missed you at the warehouse case." Joe said a bite in his voice.

"Oh. Sorry, I uh, wasn't sure that-"

Joe lifted a finger, "it's alright."

"I'm really sorry, Joe." Barry's awkwardness never saved him from these situations, and the fact that he didn't have the greatest record for being on time or showing up to things despite being the fastest man alive didn't get him out of trouble.

"You should stay here for a while." Iris said with a frown, "we can watch a movie."

"Thanks for the offer but I really need the sleep." He said, "good night guys."

He ran up the stairs and flopped into his bed. He stared at the roof, the only thoughts in his mind were Sebastian Smythe and the man he had saved. He felt an interest towards him even without the whole situation. Barry hadn't been attracted to a man this way before, but he felt that he was good looking, and was truly infatuated with him. He used to feel that way about Iris. He raised an eyebrow, never had he thought that he'd ever be gay. His thoughts moved from the man to the photo of the deceased, identical, Sebastian Smythe. He couldn't understand how at one point in time the both of them were going through their days, unaware that there was another man that shared their face. It was a weird thing to think about, what would have happened if they encountered each other on the streets or at a restaurant or something. Barry laughed at the thought of seeing this man and having a conversation with what would seem to be himself. He wished this man never died so he could meet him and possibly get to know him, maybe they could be friends, that would make for some interesting pranks.

His mind wandered through scenarios of meeting Sebastian Smythe, at one point he imagined him and the other man singing together, seeing as he was apparently on Broadway and the man he saved was obviously working on the stage too. Every single time he thought of the man he saved he wished he knew his name, he wished he knew more about him, over the course of the night thinking to himself he allowed himself to accept that he thought the man was gorgeous. He decided that it was okay to be interested in him, he wouldn't jump on the whole thing and start telling people but he was definitely going to take a trip to the hospital and see where it went. It was odd for Barry to see himself with another man, that would definitely through some more drama into his life with Joe and his friends, Iris especially.

Barry rolled onto his side, letting out a yawn before closing his eyes. He let his thoughts fizzle away as he drifted off to a sound sleep.


	2. He loved me, and I loved him

The tall, skinny, brown haired, Barry Allen found himself in his suit standing beside a hospital bed staring at the patient with. The man he saved was still asleep. Barry realized that he probably could have timed his visit little bit better but he was getting unbelievably impatient about the whole situation. All he could think about was this man, who he learned was named Blaine Devon Anderson after snooping through the files left by nurses and doctors at the folder on the foot end of the bed.

His eyes were closed, Barry didn't realize until now that the man had very long eyelashes that finally fluttered opened. He looked at the Flash with tired and glossy eyes. He stayed quiet, Barry wondered if he remembered the night before, he wondered if he still saw Sebastian's face through the mask.

"I thought you were dead." He said quietly, "I thought you died, Sebastian."

Barry's heart sank. He felt his insides twist with a feeling of misery. He didn't know what to say to the man. His hair was curly now, the gel in hair must have rubbed off. The sound of his voice hit Barry in the heartstrings, the way he said the other man's name.

"I am dead." Barry mentally scolded himself for saying what was possibly the most stupid thing that could have come out of his mouth, "I mean, I'm not who you think I am."

Blaine didn't take his eyes off of the masked man, a single tear fell down his pale cheek. His bottom lip shook as he forced himself to look away, "you have to be him, you have to be. You have his eyes, his jaw, his lips. You have his voice too."

Barry felt the urge to hug this man, give him some sort of comfort. His visit was definitely causing the man even more pain.

"Sebastian..." He turned his head back to look at Barry's masked face, he was still crying, his face displaying his feelings perfectly, "I-I don't understand."

"When are you going to be out of here? We need to talk about this somewhere else. Somewhere where I can take off the mask." Barry asked, trying to ignore the sadness and hurt in the small room. He focused on the quiet, steady beeping from one of the machines instead.

Blaine shrugged, "sometime today."

"Can I come to wherever you live?"

Blaine reached for the pen and notepad on the pull out table connected to the bed and scribbled down his address, holding it up to the red wearing hero.

"Do mind if I just come in tonight?" Barry asked taking the paper with his gloved hands.

Blaine gave him a nod.

"I'm sorry." he said to the dark haired man, he took in his features once more before turning and looking out the window. It was still early, "about Sebastian, I'm sorry I'm not him."

He didn't hear a reply, instead just the sound of whimpering and crying. He shook his head, leaving the room and finding himself in his own lab in a short couple of seconds. He sat his desk, slamming his fist on the cold wood. He couldn't handle the look on the face of the man he saved. He felt responsible for every tear that fell down his face, he knew he didn't choose to be identical to Sebastian Smythe but the fact that this man thought he was him, that he some sort of hope that maybe he was still alive after all this time, the fact that Barry had the face of someone's dead associate and had to explain to him that he wasn't this guy, that he was just some random guy who happened to be The Flash and happened to be a lookalike. It was harder than he would have expected something like this to be.

He changed into normal clothing, and sat back down on his chair. He didn't want to do anything, lucky for him it was Barry Allen's day off work. He still expected a call or two meant for The Flash. He gently tossed his cell phone on the desk, it was cluttered with loose papers, just as the floor was. Probably from running in and out so often, he had no intentions of ever cleaning it up either.

"Blaine Devon Anderson." He said to himself, looking at the address written on the paper. He lived in an apartment building on the complete other side of the city, he still wondered how they've never crossed paths. He wondered if maybe they'd ever crossed the street at the same time, maybe Blaine was with a friend or too focused on something else to notice Barry. Maybe Barry had run past him over and over and just never knew there would ever be a connection.

What would he even say when he went to his apartment. He didn't know what order to say things in, he knew there would be more tears no matter how he said it. Barry couldn't begin to imagine what would be running through the dark haired man's head, he wondered if maybe Blaine was piecing things together already, or if he was convinced that the Flash was Sebastian. What if he didn't accept the fact that Barry was the man who saved him, there was endless possibilities as to how the night could go.

"Barry?"

He looked up, seeing the dark hair and soft skin of Iris West at the door. She wore a careful expression.

"Hey." He said, turning to face her, "what's up?"

She leaned against he desk, studying her friend's face, "are you okay? You've seemed a little more distant than usual."

He shook his head, "something weird happened."

"Weird things always happen to you Barry, you're the Flash." She crossed her arms, the corners of her lips lifting. She was one thing in life that Barry knew he wouldn't be able to handle losing, he imagined himself in Blaine's shoes. If Iris had died and he'd seen someone who looked exactly like her, it would be impossible for him to get it together again.

"Last night at the theatre, one man was shot." He explained, "when I grabbed him and took him to the hospital he called me Sebastian Smythe."

She raised an eyebrow.

Barry continued, "I went back to Star Labs and Cisco and Caitlyn searched him up for me. Here." He made his way to his own computer, searching the name of the deceased man. When the picture came up he gestured for Iris to look.

"Isn't that you?"

"That's Sebastian Smythe." Barry said, "that man I saved deserves an honest explanation, I just don't know how to explain without ripping away his hope."

Iris' eyes didn't leave the picture when she spoke, "didn't you have your mask on?"

"I guess it didn't matter, he could tell I had the same face. It's not even just that we look identical, Iris, according to this guy we have the same voice."

She finally peeled her eyes off the picture and faced at the man she'd grown up with. She struggled to understand how this man she knew her whole life and this random guy in the picture were so alike in appearance, se was embarrassed that she probably wouldn't have been able to tell them apart if she saw them both in person.

"He's identical to me. When I saved that guy he saw Sebastian, and he for a second saw someone he must care about. I feel horrible being the bearer of bad news."

"He's losing you, Sebastian, again." Iris finished, "I think you need to be straightforward, even if it really hurts him."

Barry nodded, taking her advice was easier said than done. He stretched his arms, standing up and taking a few steps in whatever direction felt appropriate. He couldn't get the strained face of the man he saved out of his head, he knew he'd soon see the man in tears again. He looked at his feet, Iris's presence reminded him of how up and down life could be.

"Iris?"

The girl looked at him with the friendly expression she almost always had with him, "Yeah?"

Barry felt embarrassed even thinking this, "have you always been interested in, you know, like, men?"

She raised an eyebrow, her lips pulled into an awkward smile, "Yeah I'm pretty sure I've always been straight."

He faked a laugh and forced a smile. He knew that she'd be able to figure out exactly what he was thinking soon enough.

"Having an identity crisis? That's probably common in superheroes." She took his hand in a friendly manner.

He shrugged, staying quiet.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, Barry. No matter how embarrassed or confused you are."

He took his hand back and made his way to a table covered in little plastic bags, "thanks. I better get back to work, I've got a bunch of samples I'm behind on."

She nodded, "see you later, Barry."

"See you."

She left, the clicking of her heels eventually faded away and far enough for him to let out the uncomfortable breath he held in.

He looked at the samples, he really was behind on his work. He decided not to both, instead he grabbed his jacket from the clothes rack and ran out the building. He made his way to Star Labs, bringing coffee for Caitlyn and Cisco. He needed something to kill time, to keep his mind off Blaine and Sebastian.

"Anything for me to do?" Barry asked, standing behind his two colleagues that sat behind their computer screens.

"Awfully quiet day in Central City if I do say so myself." Cisco said, taking a sip of his coffee and instantly spitting it out, "dude how much sugar is in this?"

"Why don't the three of us go out for lunch or something then?" Caitlyn suggested, "there's that new fondue restaurant."

"I'm in." Barry said, both and Caitlyn Cisco stood up. Together they walked the few blocks to the restaurant and got themselves a table.

"Have you talked to that guy yet?" Caitlyn asked, letting Cisco order the group cheese fondue.

Barry took a sip of his water before answering, "I dropped by the hospital to see him, his name's Blaine Anderson. I'm going to go to his apartment tonight, he's super shaky about the whole thing."

"Well can you blame him?" The other man said with an exaggerated tone, "he's probably freaking out, I know I would if I saw some dead guy alive."

Barry looked at Caitlyn, her dead fiancé wasn't dead, they got to live happily ever after though, Sebastian didn't survive like Ronnie did. Now that he thought of it, most of the metahumans were declared dead before reappearing later and wreaking havoc.

"This city is crazy." Cisco muttered.

Barry let out a small laugh, taking another long drink of water. That was a true statement, odd things happened in Central City, things that could only be explained by advanced science and the mindset to believe in supernatural beings.

The waiter brought them the warm bowl of bowling cheese, plates and a tray of breads and vegetables to dip. They ate, talking about past adventures, Ronnie, the lab, Cisco's failed dates, and eventually back to the Sebastian situation.

When they were done, Barry just wanted to head to the apartment. So he did, saying goodbye to his friends and telling them he'd make sure to come to Star Labs as soon as he was finished. he raced off, following the roads to the other end of the Central City. He didn't come this way often but h still knew his way around. He climbed the outside of the building and into what he hoped was the right the right room. He knew he got the right place when the first thing e saw hanging on the cream coloured wall was a framed picture of the short, dark haired man with Sebastian Smythe, they wore the same outfit, grey dress pants with dark blazers with red piping and a red crest on the chest. They must have went to school together then.

He knocked on the wall, "hello?"

Maybe Blaine hadn't returned yet, it was still quite early. Then he saw the man, he wore a white tank, showing was he didn't expect to be decently buff arms, as well as his upper left side to be covered in bandages. He also wore dark sweatpants. His eyes were wide, staring at Barry.

"I'm the Flash, Barry Allen."

Blaine choked from trying to hold back tears, he pointed at a picture that was stuck to the fridge with heart shaped magnets, "you look like, Sebastian, so much like him. You sound like him."

These were things Barry already knew, but he let the man go on, he was obviously struggling with understanding this.

"Sing. Sing something."

"Sing? I uh, don't-"

"Anything, Barry. Please." His big eyes looked directly at Barry, he was on the verge of tears. Barry forced away the thoughts of how cute the man was.

Barry just sang the first thing that came to his head, he was surprised that it would be the first few lines of Uptown Girl.

"Oh my god." Blaine fell to the ground, tears spilling from his eyes.

Barry stopped, moving beside Blaine, he wrapped his arms around him in attempt to comfort him, "I didn't think it was that bad..."

"No." He laughed, it was a real laugh, "are you sure you're not Sebastian? That was the first song I heard him sing."

"What are the chances?" Barry said, pulling the man to his feet, "let's sit down."

They made their way to the small living room area. Barry sat down on a leather love seat across from Blaine who sat on the couch.

"I'm sorry for crying." Blaine said quietly, he couldn't stop himself from staring at Barry, "Sebastian was killed in the explosion last year, he was my fiancé. When I saw you, even under the mask, I just... My head and my feelings, I thought maybe this whole time Sebastian just disappeared because he was the Flash. Then I got angry and wondered why he was saving the world instead of being with me. When you came to visit me in the hospital is when I understood, Sebastian was still dead but the world gave me an identical copy of him."

Barry was surprised that he made through that whole speech without crying. He mentioned that Sebastian was his fiancé, no wonder he wanted to believe he was alive.

"Can you tell me more about him?"

"He was amazing. He wasn't the friendliest guy in high school, but we all knew he had a crush on me since the beginning. We became really close friends because I already had a boyfriend, Kurt Hummel who I even asked Sebastian to help me propose to. Kurt called off our marriage, and I found myself sharing the Broadway stage with Sebastian so we started talking again, he asked me to be his boyfriend, and I said yes." Blaine wiped the tears from his eyes, "he was an amazing singer, like you. He loved me, and I loved him. When the explosion happened, when I found out he died, I was devastated. He didn't have a lot of friends, just a few of mine that felt obligated to like him."

Barry nodded, interested to hear more.

"His dad was a States Attorney, tried to push Sebastian into getting a Law degree. He pursued Broadway and became big, we lived in New York. We moved to Central City for a change of pace." The man looked down, "I really wish we didn't."

The Particle Accelerator explosion caused so much grief. Barry felt guilty. He reached across the coffee table, grabbing Blaine's hand. The touch surprised both men.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Blaine." Barry said, he didn't have to try to be sympathetic, "the explosion put me in a coma for nine months, when I woke up, I could run."

"That's how you became the Flash."

"Please, please keep my identity a secret." Barry pleaded, squeezing the other man's hand.

Blaine nodded, "of course, Barry." He felt awkward calling who his mind decided was Sebastian by the name of Barry Allen. He liked that this man explained it to him rather than running off.

Blaine stood up, "I'm sorry I need a minute, this is a lot to take in. Help yourself to anything in the fridge."

Barry watched as the man disappeared into a different room. He could hear him crying. He wondered if Blaine thought Barry was a good thing or a bad thing. He scanned the walls, Blaine seemed to be a popular guy, not only were there pictures of Sebastian, but also one with a Latina girl and a blond, another group photo of a group surrounding a trophy. There was another picture with Sebastian that caught his eyes, they wore those same uniforms as the first picture he saw, Sebastian was proposing, around them were boys wearing the same uniforms.

Barry looked towards the room Blaine had walked off too. He carefully peeked through the door, seeing the man kneeling on the ground, his head buried on the blankets on his bed. He was a mess.

He walked towards him, putting an arm around the smaller man. He thought about whether Blaine would ever want to talk to him in the future, if maybe there were more people the this man would introduce him to that knew Sebastian, he wondered if he would ever stop crying, if he would be able to look at Barry without seeing his dead fiancé, "it's okay, I promise, it's okay."


End file.
